Did the UFC not counter-program Bellator because...

JT RIPPER

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At first I was wondering why they didn't counter program against the Bellator PPV but then started to think that maybe the UFC wanted to see just how it would do on it's own. It's a good measure of their potential threat to see how many PPV views they can sell without any counter programming.

Was there an actual reason they didn't program against it?

In the end, with the Chandler/Alvarez fight gone, how many people are really going to buy the PPV just to see Rampage vs King Mo?
 
That pretty much sums it up. Also, without Alvarez/Chandler 3, UFC doesn't really care. Anyone with a brain knows that Rampage, King Mo and Tito won't motivate that much of PPV buys.
 
I'm still expecting Tito to pull out of his fight to.
 
who knows? its a bummer about the ME but i am still looking forward to it!

war page!
 
I don't think they really do that with Fox (also there is less competition post Fox). I think Spike did most of the counter-programming. Like UFC on Fox 1, Spike played a bunch of Cain and Junior's past fights (It looked as if to trick people into thinking the fight was on Spike)
 
Why WOULD the UFC counter-program against such a stacked card?

What would it do?

The US wasn't going to put on a stacked card at that time because they couldn't tap the full potential of their star with a separate event on.. and if they put on a subpar card, there is a possibility it would lose to such a ridiculous Bellator PPV card and it would give Bellator firepower.

Now, obviously since Alvarez is injured, it doesn't matter either way, but what would be the advantage of the UFC putting on a card then? Bellator can't make a stacked card like that often, the UFC should save the counter-programming for when Bellator has weaker cards (which they will 99% of the time).
 
Counter program with a live event? Probably because UFC plans their events more in advance, before they knew when Bellator was having their PPV. They also aren't on a network that would allow them in any slot, at any time, on any date like they had with Spike. I bet if this PPV and date was announced late last year then we'd probably see UFC on FOX or a live FS1 event here, but that wasn't the case.

Spike TV, who love to counter program..would even counter program WEC and UFC on VS. shows would always clear the schedule for an impromptu counter program whether it was a live card(Affliction) or a re-airing a recent PPV(Strikeforce) for the first time...FOX probably not too much. It's just a different situation now. If UFC was on a station where it was virtually their house, maybe we'd see something.
 
Pretty sure Bellator waited for the UFC to fill out its schedule first before making a date for the PPV.
 
Because May 17th is Norway's 4th of July and Dana respects Bj
 
Why did they put Tito against their MW champion?

Lose-Lose situation. If Tito wins, they buried their champion. If Tito loses, so what?
 
Why did they put Tito against their MW champion?

Lose-Lose situation. If Tito wins, they buried their champion. If Tito loses, so what?

$$$$$ is the obvious answer.

Tito is a draw and will get people to buy the pay per view. And he has almost no chance of winning.
 
The UFC calander is made more in advance now a days. I would guess it could be associated with staying away from antitrust stuff. I have no information to back this up. It's just another logical explanation.
 
When UFC was on Spike they controlled what Spike could put on and on which day. So it was easy for the UFC to put on shows when other orgs like Affliction and Strikeforce had big events. Now since UFC has moved to Fox the UFC has no control Fox calls the shots on when the UFC can put on shows. This is the reason why UFC is not able to put on a free show that rivals Bellators PPV.
 
Why did they put Tito against their MW champion?

Lose-Lose situation. If Tito wins, they buried their champion. If Tito loses, so what?

Its a decent fight. Shows where their MW champion is. Even at the end of his career, Tito was a decent enough LHW. He wasn't out there losing to cans or anything. He lost to top 10 LHWs (with the exception of maybe Hamill). If Shlemenko can beat Tito, its a feather in his cap. Plus, its not like he has a bunch of world beaters at MW to fight. If he loses, Bellator will just say that Tito is a former world champ and is bigger. Its not like people think Shlemenko is a top MW anyway so there isn't much to lose.
 
When you're working with a lot of watered down cards, you're not so confident in your hand so you got to know when to fold 'em
 
Once Bellator puts together a stacked Affliction MMA-esque card, I'm fairly certain Dana and the UFC won't counter it.

Unless they get Megadeth, then that's a whole new bushel of bananas to consider ...
 
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